Which to use
“grès” and “grève” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,976
- “grès” frequency rank
- #2,479
- “grève” frequency rank
- 15455
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grès | grève |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Roche détritique formée par l’agglomération de nombreux petits grains unis par un ciment naturel de composition variable (siliceux, calcaire, etc.). | Terrain uni et sablonneux le long de la mer ou d’une grande rivière. |
Where the eye mixes grès and grève
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses grès with grève
A purely visual mix-up. grès (\ɡʁɛ\) and grève (\ɡʁɛv\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15455, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grès is recorded at frequency rank #12,976, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁɛ\. grève is at rank #2,479, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁɛv\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 15455, this pair ranks #392,293 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of grès vs grève
Shared letters: grè. Private to "grès": s. Private to "grève": ev.
"grès" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "grève" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "grès" for "grève" ever safe?
Which is more common, "grès" or "grève"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "grès" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grève" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #392,293 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grès" and "grève" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grès vs grow". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #392,293 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.